DVD Review: Bhram 
By Joginder Tuteja, May 27, 2008 - 15:53 IST
MOVIE DETAILS
Cast: Dino Morea, Milind Soman, Sheetal Menon, Simone Singh and Chetan Hansraj
Director: Pawan Kaul
Producer: Nari Hira
Music: Siddharth-Suhas, Pritam
Lyrics: Kumaar, Irshad Kamil
THE FILM
"I wonder how many blow jobs would she have given for this blow up"
"I have heard that you excite man and then end up with K.L.P.D'"
"Are you a cabbie or do use a car for shag$ing off"
"Doesn't look like you worry about proteins with the number of BJs you give"
"What the fu@#", "What's your fu@#ing problem", "Fu@# off", etc. etc. etc.
You must be wondering if this is a review for a Hollywood film or these dialogues are from a film coming out of our good old Mumbai! Well, believe it or not but it is actually the latter. And no, there are no annoying beeps or camouflaged words used here to hide the real ones. Well, the Censors have become far more liberal, and how! Also, the words are as verbatim as mentioned above and have a lot more belonging to their clan for company in this Pawan Kaul film for which many are still wondering if it has actually released.
A thriller, Bhram takes an excellent start. Even though one can sense the budget constraint due to its relatively restricted canvas, one doesn't really mind that since top notch photography (watch out for that current v/s flash back transition brought out so effectively frame after frame) makes you get hooked on to the screen. The film requires a close watch since every 30 seconds of the narrative count and any miss-up would result in a broken thread.
You want to know what's the secret Dino is trying to unearth all the way in the hill stations of Kullu/Manali? Why is Sheetal Menon lying in a hospital? Is Milind Soman really what he looks and acts? What exactly is Simone Singh, who plays Soman's wife, role in the entire episode? Sequence after sequence throws in a lot of questions with Kaul not allowing any strings to meet. Keeping the viewer engaged between present and the past where behind-the-scenes from the fashion industry dominate the proceedings and the inner turmoil of Sheetal Menon is hinted upon, Kaul ensures that no one from the audience moves.
However, after a solid interval point which makes a viewer anticipate a lot more twists and turns in the tale, the noir narration looses the punch in the last 15 minutes. Bhram in fact turns out to be one big 'bhram' since instead of yet another shock being thrown on you; the story culminates in an out and out convenient manner. There is hardly a mystery in the way the jigsaw puzzle comes together and in the times when the last moment twist is a must, something that Abbas-Mustan did with perfection in Race, one certainly misses the final blow!
PACKAGING
The film comes in a standard local plastic case. Since the DVD comes on Moser Baer, don't expect any fancy packaging.
DURATION
The film comes in a single DVD pack with the film's duration being 128 minutes.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The DVD doesn't come with any special features.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
- 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
- Subtitles in English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
PRICE
Rs. 50/=
CONCLUSION
Yes, the film was released and knocked off from theaters in one week flat. A disaster at the box office, not because of the language but the horrific promotion and disastrous release strategy more than anything else, Bhram met with a miserable response. Not that it would have done excellently even if marketed well and given a respectable release but at the least the shock value (in the first half of the film) would have made a few sit up and take notice. In any case, if not the film, the Censors for sure deserve a 5 star rating here!
Rating: **
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